We are LGBT family

Feature

Posted on 27 Feb 2019

As this month includes LGBT+ Adoption & Fostering Week, we thought we’d ask our columnist Steve Ball's daughter, Jade, to give her perspective on having two gay dads...

I’m Jade, a 19-year-old university student, and I have two gay dads who I love very much. To me, it’s nothing strange at all because I’ve grown up like this. In fact it’s completely normal, and I never even think to bat an eyelid about it - and that’s just as it should be in today’s society.

Sadly, though, it still isn’t. Most of my peers, friends and people of a similar age, think it’s quite strange that I have a dad and a stepdad who’re married to each other. Whenever I tell them about my family, they all think at first that my stepdad is married to my mom. Don’t worry, I soon put them right!

The fact that I do have to explain my family situation shows that, even in 2019, there’s still a way to go with full acceptance of LGBT+ parenting. I still get told to be careful talking about the fact that I have two gay dads because of people not understanding.

This baffles me, as I honestly believe that any couple, LGBT+ or straight, should be able to foster, adopt or raise a child as long as they’re able to care for and provide for that child, put their needs first and give them all the love in the world.

I’m a very lucky young woman because I have the best of both worlds, and in reality I always have had: I have a mum who loves me to pieces, but I also have two gay dads who love me to pieces as well. But most importantly, I know that all of them would be there for me if I ever needed them.

For me, that's the most important thing a child can have - people close to them who let them know that they’re loved and cared for.

The sexuality of the parents shouldn’t be a factor in who gets to love and nurture a child. It should be about the child and their happiness and wellbeing. If only life could be that simple, and modern-day society reflected how so many people feel about this.